What are UMPI courses like?

[guessilldoit]

I'm 17 and am graduating this school year. I just found out about UMPI and I think it fits me really well. I'm homeschooled, so online learning works for me. I'm a Maine resident and near the poverty line, so I should be able to afford it. I think my dad or older brother would be willing to help with any fees I have as they are more well off than my family and want me to go to college. I want to be a history teacher and all of the courses I would be taking sound very interesting to me. The 8-week sessions also work for me, because I can definitely handle two/three courses at a time compared to five for 16 weeks even if it is the same workload at a faster pace. I am planning on taking CLEP US History I and II, CLEP American Government, and DSST Astronomy at the end of this school year for final exams for a few classes. If I am confident enough, I'll also take CLEP Western Civ I. I also have a course that should transfer and cover English Composition I.

I am just curious about what the courses are like? The only college course I have taken was ENG 100 College Writing with the University of Southern Maine and it didn't go very well because of the harsh transition to online and, at the time, I didn't have a good computer or good internet and so I couldn't join any calls which cost me a lot of participation, but I did end up earning the credits. Are the courses difficult to navigate? How available are professors to help? Are there any courses I should avoid and just take on Sophia or Study.com? Is there any way I could earn the degree in less than three years (I'm a part-time cashier and I dislike the job a lot)? I'm willing to take some Sophia or Study.com courses before enrolling.

Thank you for any and all help. I am just very excited and nervous to find out about this. I was going over degree plans from other colleges and I was very nervous it would cost me over $20k and put me in debt, but this is very affordable.